The Eagle Scout Badge is the highest youth award available to young members of the Boy Scouts of America. Very few Scouts make it this far, and it is a great achievement. The Eagle Scout Badge in this country has always stood for the best that a young man can be. Universities and colleges, the military establishment, and many civilian corporations interview Eagle Scouts solely based upon this achievement in their lives. To them, the Eagle Scout is someone that they can trust; that they know will be a responsible, caring, and dedicated worker, and a good leader of others.

Like other ranks, advancing to the rank of Eagle Scout involves requirements such as participation, Scout spirit, merit badges, and positions of responsibility. Keep in mind that the measurements for leadership and scout spirit are cumulative and span the evolution of a scout's journey through advancement. A significant requirement of Eagle rank is planning, developing, and executing a service project. Additionally, scouts must prepare for and pass an Eagle Scout Board of Review.

Troop 32 has created a program to help him move along his journey from Life to Eagle - the Life to Eagle Mentor opportunity. This program was developed to offer the scout an objective third party to use as an advisor as commitments to school, clubs and sports gets more demanding. They will not complete the tasks for the scout, but will be assisting and guiding the scout as he earns Scouting's highest rank.

As part of our on-going efforts to work with Life Scouts who choose to pursue the rank of Eagle Scout, Troop 32 has an active Life to Eagle Mentoring program. Life to Eagle "mentors" will be assigned to each boy achieving the Life Scout rank. These are adult volunteers involved with the troop or troop committee that are not related to the scout. They provide an objective perspective and can encourage the scout to stay connected to the troop in addition to school/club/sports responsibilities.

The mentor will call or meet with new Life Scout and his parents to introduce them to the program in the weeks following the Court of Honor. The mentor will meet with the Scout and map out his general plan beginning with the date of his 18th birthday and working backwards. The first step is to identify a project and write a 4 page summary (pages 2-1 to 2-4 of the workbook) to present to the troop Life to Eagle Coordinator and Scoutmaster for their preliminary approval. A link to the Eagle Service Project Workbook is embedded here http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/EagleWorkbookProcedures.aspx The mentor will check in with the scout to see if he is achieving the goals he has set for himself.

Once the project idea has been approved, the Life Scout will prepare the 8 page project description (pages 3-1 to 3-7) in the Eagle workbook to present to the Troop Committee for approval. When the project is formally approved, the Life Scout will obtain the District representative's signature and commence with his project. The mentor will continue to check in the the Scout to assure that he is staying on track - on time and on budget. Once the project is finished, a final report should be completed (pages 4-1 to 4-4 of the workbook).

Training for Life to Eagle mentors will take place on an as needed basis. The primary tools a Life to Eagle mentor needs are the "Life to Eagle Progress Sheet" and the "Life to Eagle Process Outline" Links to the training outline and these two documents are in the Knowledge Base.

Resources

Troop 32's Life to Eagle Orientation Handbook and past Eagle Project ideas* are available at the bottom of this section below:

*Please remember that these past Eagle Projects do not necessarily meet Troop 32's standard of Eagle Project ideas and may not be acceptable for future projects. Please talk to your Scoutmaster before pursuing any project to ensure that Troop 32's Eagle Project criteria are met.